How MUCH to work out?

I am a little confused about how much to work out?

I've been doing a sprint workout once a week, a body wieght work out 2x a week that lasts 30 min (2 sets of 30 knee pushups, 2 sets of 40 full squats, 2 sets of forearm plank for a minute - trying to add 10 seconds each week, side planks for 40 seconds and reverse pullups to get to my goal of doing regular pullups.... walking and other slow moving things probably 4-5 hrs.

When I started this 2 mos ago, I could barely do 2 sets of 10 knee pushups and they were half push-ups, not chest to floor... now I am doing 2 sets of 30, chest to floor and once I can do them all in a row without having to pause briefly at # 23 in my first rep and # 18 in my second, I want to move on to full toe pushups... I could only do knee plank, 100% chair assist pullups, maybe 20 half squats.

I feel that I push myself to continue onward incrementally as discussed in the primal fitness vs. being satisfied with a static number or particular movment. Primal says not to work out every day in order to give yourself time to rebuild....however, I know crossfitters are working out every day. ??

I just got the Convict Conditioning book to add onto the free Primal Fitness e-book that I've been following and it also says not to skip or train too hard or will be more difficult to progress. But shouldn't I be working hard to progress?

How do I know what is too hard? How do I know if I need to step it up or back it off? I sort of think I need to step it up...

I took pix of myself 30 days in Primal and a recent one after 2 mos of the sprinting/bodywieght workouts... can see changes for sure.

However, can also see how much further I need to go. It's both disheartening and at the same time quite motivating!

Advice?

Thanks a bunch in advance -

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. - Oscar Wilde

I see NO PROBLEMS WHATSOEVER with what you've been doing, the progress you've been making, or your basic approach. You don't list ANYTHING that is actually not working for you. Therefore, DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING.
"Crossfitters" do not work out every day as a rule. The box I visited they recommended 3x week at the most. Some elite athletes do work out every day, having developed a tolerance for severe body stress and the desire to sacrifice their health for their athletic goals. Does that describe you?

No - not that anything isn't working but I guess I am just being impatient and after seeing pix of myself wanting to get fitter faster. Grin. I know it's a process and going into this, thought that in a year I would hope to be in fairly good shape. I thought maybe bumping up one day a week... 3x a week vs. 2. And adding more slow movements... been slacking at lunch. There is no reason not to go for a walk with my iPod vs. staying indoors for lunch.

I have a couple friends who do crossfit and they have the WOD. They are super strong and lean - kudos to them absolutely! However, the intensity of those workouts is not a good fit for me. Not that I don't want to be intense where I shold be... I just hear stories of blood and vomit and I don't want to bleed or vomit. grin.

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. - Oscar Wilde

I agree with tfarny and federkeil in that you can up the volume, but do not train on back to back days. You could also up the intensity, as you indicated, at each workout. It is great that you are progressing and figuring out how far you can, or need to, go to get in the workout that you feel works for you.

People too weak to follow their own dreams will always try to discourage others.

No - not that anything isn't working but I guess I am just being impatient and after seeing pix of myself wanting to get fitter faster. Grin. I know it's a process and going into this, thought that in a year I would hope to be in fairly good shape. I thought maybe bumping up one day a week... 3x a week vs. 2. And adding more slow movements... been slacking at lunch. There is no reason not to go for a walk with my iPod vs. staying indoors for lunch.

I have a couple friends who do crossfit and they have the WOD. They are super strong and lean - kudos to them absolutely! However, the intensity of those workouts is not a good fit for me. Not that I don't want to be intense where I shold be... I just hear stories of blood and vomit and I don't want to bleed or vomit. grin.

Working out more is not the answer. *If* you wanted to change something I would suggest upping the intensity- instead of more reps, using more challenging versions, or (my preference) using barbell training so you can increase the weight incrementally instead of going for more reps.

There is never a need to bleed or vomit during workouts. (Feeling that way is actually a mild version of exercise bulimia, an eating disorder. It comes from not liking your body and seeing a need to punish it for not being what you want.)

No one works out at high intensity every day(by definition it is impossible). They are just spreading the load over more time, which has benefits, but is not the same thing.

If I were to increase intensity - is there a general guideline for how many reps before failure? And do you go to failure? I have read in some articles yes and in others no. Or is this another area where it's more about what works for you?

I have it in my head to reach X amount of reps at a certain level before increasing difficulty and progressing on to the next harder movment. I'm all for increasing difficulty and getting stronger!

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. - Oscar Wilde

No. You've got that backwards. For the most part, crossfitters are normal everyday people with regular day jobs and families. There is a small percentage that are dumb and or crazy.

Originally Posted by Shanster

I just hear stories of blood and vomit and I don't want to bleed or vomit. grin.

Blood and vomit are also not the norm. I've been attending a very busy, large crossfit gym for close to two years and have yet to see anyone vomit. Some blood here and there, but that's mostly from poor hand maintenance, or poor programming depending on your views. Although, a lot of people get pretty green after the rowing benchmarks.

The majority does not work out every day. Most are three or four times a week. I did the M-F routine for a while and it was too much for me personally. Currently, I do 3 metcon days and 2 pure strength days. I'm quite happy with this.

In the long run if you're just starting out, definitely stay away from doing too much. Too much can set you back if you're not careful.

I mean no disrespect to Crossfit in any way! Know there are many ways to get strong. The body weight exercises are appealing to me....being able to conquer my own body weight, control my movements in a strong, muscular way... acheiving- hopefully - things like backbends, headstands, handstands etc. shrug. Just something about it that appeals to me.

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. - Oscar Wilde